Before you find yourself in hot water or stuck in a contract with deceiving small print, consider the importance of hiring a small business attorney.
A lot of work goes into starting your own business. Least of which is the investment of your own blood, sweat, and tears.
Your business is your pride and joy, your baby. You created it, watched it grow, went through ups and downs, and love it with all your worth. Naturally, you’d want to protect your baby.
There’s a lot out there that can cause your business harm. In fact, 60% of all small businesses in the last two years experienced significant legal troubles. But, only 54% of those, sought out legal services.
Most believed they could handle the problems on their own, while others cited cost as the reason. However, with how much effort and hardship put into starting your company, it makes sense to invest in a small business attorney.
Keep reading to find out how a small business attorney is important to the success of your company.
When Would You Need a Small Business Attorney
Before diving into the benefits of outsourcing your legal needs it helps to know what situations could arise that require a small business attorney.
Most situations where a lawyer would be necessary can be categorized into three groups:
- Compliance with the government
- Interactions with customers, suppliers, and employees
- Investors and your co-owners
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.
The Government
Businesses have to be in compliance with certain local, state and federal laws. Navigating these waters and knowing all the ins and outs to ensure compliance can be difficult.
Then there is also ensuring you pay the appropriate taxes owed, and don’t create any unnecessary tax liabilities. Not knowing the proper taxes to pay is one of the easiest ways a business can get into trouble. It is also one of the most devastating to a company when it happens.
Customers, Suppliers, and Employees
It’s important to protect yourself and your business from lawsuits that may arise. Especially those from employees or former employees who may sue for discrimination violations or harassment.
These types of lawsuits can be very damaging to a company. Even when they aren’t true the damage is still done. It’s best to hire a lawyer for those situations.
Firms like Nehora Law Firm are well-experienced in defending and representing you and your company’s interests in the case of a lawsuit.
But, what about when a supplier sues for theft of services or some other reason? The damage to your reputation isn’t as severe, but this should still be handled by a qualified small business attorney.
The amount paid in legal fees, fines, and settlements if you lose the case can bankrupt your company, and make all your hard work and effort for nothing.
Investors and Co-Owners
If you have investors who are expecting a return on their investment or co-owners it’s always best to hire a small business attorney. This protects not only yourself and your company, but them as well.
Hiring an attorney to help clearly define expectations and boundaries of co-founders can save you a lot of time and heartache down the line when disagreements arise.
How a Lawyer Handles Legal Situations
You’ve read about the situations that may arise requiring a small business attorney, but how exactly do they help in those situations, and what can they do that you can’t?
For one thing, lawyers know the law in and out. Not just what is written in the statutes but also various case laws that can help interpret those laws.
This is information they’ve gathered over years of study and practice. Thus, not something you’ll be able to learn while running your business.
One example of this knowledge is if you believe there is a case for trademark infringement. This is a very lengthy and difficult process, one that requires an expert to accurately navigate.
Expert attorneys can protect your assets aggressively after determining whether you have a case and the likelihood of success.
Lawyers can also help ensure your workplace is compliant with safety standards and defend against any accidents that could result in lawsuits. Worker compensation cases are the other most common cases to handle for a business with employees.
How lawyers help with these is by filing paperwork on your behalf, gathering all facts of the situation (including subpoenaing the other party for any evidence they have) and building a strong strategy for defense.
Different attorneys offer a variety of different services, some specializing in only one or two things, while others may have broader generalized services. It’s best to do your research into any attorney you choose for more info.
Hiring an Attorney for Your Business
It’s not enough to know when to hire a small business attorney, and what that attorney can offer you, but you need to be sure you choose the right attorney or your needs.
There are a few things to think about when hiring an attorney to represent and protect your company’s interests.
One of the most important things to consider is how well they fit your company’s needs and with your personality. Do you two get along? Have a good rapport? Do they understand your business plan and believe in it?
The second most important thing to consider is cost. How much do they charge an hour? How do they bill their time? Is it possible to keep them on retainer?
These are the two biggest factors to determine when hiring an attorney. There are other factors to consider but so long as you’ve considered these two you’re halfway there.
Protect Your Company Right
With all the hard work that goes into a startup company, it’s important to protect it to the best of your abilities. The devastation that could happen from just a simple legal bump in the road is just not worth it.
Especially when there is a simple solution to avoiding legal issues by hiring a small business attorney. The expense incurred by outsourcing your legal needs is nothing compared to the amount your company could lose in legal fees, fines, and settlements.
Protect the company you’ve worked so hard to create and make successful and hire the right attorney for your business needs today!
